Farewell, Pittsburgh Kid: Baseball is a business

One thing about being a sports fan that is very tough is the times that we all have to realize that sports are a business as well as a game. Yesterday, myself as well as a vast majority of the Pittsburgh Pirate fanbase were given a painful example of that reality when hometown hero Neil Walker was traded to the New York Mets in exchange for pitcher Jon Niese. Nobody loves this franchise more than Neil Martin Andrew Walker. Walker grew up in Pittsburgh and is a 2004 graduate of nearby Pine-Richland High School. Neil endured the franchise during it's dark ages and was given the opportunity to be a part of the team's recent turnaround. During his time with Pittsburgh, Neil Walker established himself as one of the game's best second basemen, and filling his shoes at second base will be a challenge. Walker is, by all accounts that I have heard, an outstanding human being as well as a good baseball player. Walker embodied what it means to wear the Pirate uniform, and it sure would have been nice if he could have spent his whole carrer in the city in which he was born and raised.

Unfourtanly, Major League Baseball is not a fairy tale world. MLB, just like Apple, Nike, and the Boston Globe, is a business. In any business, tough decisions have to be made, and in baseball, trades are at the heart of such decisions. No matter how popular a player is and how charming he is away from the field, if the General Manager feels that the best thing for their franchise would be to part ways with him, then so it will be. The reason that Neil Huntington felt that trading Walker would be the right move relates to another issue that gets on the nerves of sports fans everywhere: contracts. 

For those who are unaware of Walker's contract situation, allow me to fill you in. Walker had one year left on his contract with the Pirates and was about to go to salary arbitration, as the upcoming season will be his last before free agency. Walker was projected by MLB Trade Rumors.Com to earn $10.7 million dollars via arbitration in 2016, and the Pirates were ultimately unwilling to compete with that. Pirates fans spent the whole offseason speculating about Walker's future with the club, and that question was answered with yesterday's trade. While I am most definitely sad to see Walker go, I also feel that this trade made sense, and here's why.

As hard as it is to accept, it was only a matter of time before the Pittsburgh Kid left Pittsburgh. The cost was going to be more than the Pirates were willing to spend, so keeping Walker in the fold was not a realistic option, the Pirates might as well have gotten something out of him, and Jon Niese was their guy. Niese is not a superstar, and that's ok. As good as Walker is, other teams simply would not be willing to give up one of their franchise cornerstones for a guy who is one year away from hitting the free agent market. Niese has been a solid pitcher throughout his career, and you can get a good look at his stats here.http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/n/niesejo01.shtml He is a left-hander who throws lots of ground balls, and who's to say Ray Serage can't elevate his game further? I've seen people on social media stating that Niese is either a "bum" or a "reclamation project", and I don't believe either to be true. 

Another reason that this deal makes sense is that because of Niese's contract, Pittsburgh will have control over him for three years while the Mets will have control of Walker for one. Three years of a solid starting pitcher for one year of a very good second baseman is a fair deal. Niese also has options for 2017 and 18, so the Bucs can pull the plug on his contract after this season if things do not work out. While I see baseball as a business, and I do think the Walker deal made sense given the circumstances, I do not feel that this should have ever needed to take place.

What I have a  issue with is that the Pirates should have given Neil Walker a long-term contract extension a while ago. When you have a guy who came up through your system and became one of the cornerstones of your franchise, you make it a priority to make sure that he doesn't go anywhere for a long time. Yes, Walker has had recurring back problems for the past few years, but a cornerstone is a cornerstone, and the second that it became apparent how vital Walker was to the Pirates, the front office should have started to get to work on an extension, and Neil Walker should still be a Pittsburgh Pirate. The ideal time for Walkers to receive an extension, in my opinion, would have been after the 2012 season. By this time, Walker had established himself as a quality player, and considering that the team was able to extend Andrew McCutchen in March of 2012 for what was an obscene bargain and has been willing to extend Starling Marte, Jose Tabata and Charlie Morton, an extension for Walker could have easily happened. The fact that it didn't backs up claims from reliable sources such as Dejan Kovacevic that the front office has had a problem with Walker for years. 

An issue created by this trade is that the Pirates have dug themselves a pretty large hole at the second base position. With Josh Harrison likely moving to third as a result of the ? health of Jung-Ho Kang, it now appears that Sean Rodriguez will be your opening day second baseman. I love Sean Rod's defensive and ability to play anywhere on the field, but the man cannot hit to save his life, and he is not reliable as an everyday starter as a result.

The thing that I have the biggest issue with is that, based on Neil Huntington's comments in a press conference, it appears that the Pirates will not add anymore pitching depth before the season begins. If this turns out to be true, then this offseason was a bust. Although Niese does help fill the void left by J.A. Happ, having Jeff Locke and Charlie Morton as your #4 and #5 starters is not good enough. 

You would think that the Pirates would be pushing hard to make their team better after falling short of a division title last season, but that does not appear to be the case. My message to Neil Huntington and the Pirates front office is: is that all you got? If it is, then it is simply not good enough. I love NH and all he has done to rebuild this franchise over the past seven years, but he needs to get on the ball if this team wants to continue to build. 

So, my overall impression of the Walker trade is that it is a business move that makes sense based on the current circumstances. But that predicament should have never existed, and the Pirates need to do more this offseason to be a threat in the NL Central.